This quote by Adam Smith captures marvelously the worth of labor to any society. Alas, the importance of labor and its market seem to be trifling for our policy makers. While we have made good progress in terms of setting institutions and infrastructure for reforming the capital markets, banking system etc, no significant move has been made towards addressing the issues facing the labor market. .
There have been complaints emanating from the corporates and the economists with respect to the rigid labor laws. Still no consensus has yet been achieved, although a lot of rhetoric has taken place. All words and no action are meanwhile making "jack" read: the labor market, a very dull boy.
In this paper, we elucidate the major flaws in the Indian labor legislation framework and enunciate reforms for the same. .
Structure.
We will be analyzing the absurd provisions of the following and outlining reforms for the same:.
• The Factories Act .
• The Contract Labor (Regulation and Abolition) Act .
• The Trade Unions Act.
• The Industrial Disputes Act.
• The Minimum Wages Act.
• The Payment of Bonus Act.
• Ambiguous & divergent state & central labor laws.
• Rigidity of the Labor Contract .
• The Adjudication Process.
The Factories Act .
This Act is characterized by a number of inane and unnecessary stipulations. For instance, Section 20 of this Act mandates that every factory provide sufficient number of spittoons. Then it goes on to outline rules for the type and number of spittoons that should be provided, their maintenance and their location in the factory. Then it bizarrely strives to penalize any person who spits anywhere else other than the spittoons. .
Under Section 43, the state government can for any factory make rules regarding the drying of wet clothes and suitable places for doing so. It is no one's case that welfare provisions should not exist, but such antediluvian provisions make no sense.